Madrid Open 2015: Serena Williams makes it 26 wins in a row after Victoria Azarenka blows three match points

Serena Williams has not lost a match for nearly seven months but the 33-year-old American went desperately close to going out in the third round of the Madrid Open. Williams appeared to be heading for her first defeat since October until an extraordinary collapse by Victoria Azarenka in the closing stages of their meeting in the Spanish capital.

Azarenka, who has given Williams some of her toughest tests in recent years, had three match points when she served at 6-5 and 40-0 in the deciding set. However, the 25-year-old from Belarus failed to convert any of them and at the end of the game she served three successive double faults to set up a deciding tie-break, which Williams won 7-1 to complete a 7-6, 3-6, 7-6 victory after two hours and 43 minutes.

It was Williams’ 26th win in a row and the world No 1 is on the second longest winning streak of her career, having had a 34-match unbeaten run ended by Sabine Lisicki at Wimbledon two years ago.

Azarenka’s 2014 campaign was wrecked by injury, but this year she has clawed her way back up the rankings to her present position at No 31. The former Australian Open champion has often played her best against Williams, even though the American has won 15 of their 18 meetings.

The Belarusian could easily have won the first set but squandered a 5-1 lead in the tie-break. She took the second set with something to spare and pushed Williams all the way in the decider until her late meltdown.

Williams, who will now play Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro, won 113 points in the match to Azarenka’s 112. When asked about Azarenka afterwards, Williams said: “She’s absolutely on her way back.

“It’s so good to see a Grand Slam champion like her playing so well. I’m always rooting for her when she plays. It’s good to see her on her way back. She’s clearly doing great.”

Azarenka said it had been “a great match” but added: “I think the one negative part I can take about today is the result. Overall I felt like I played a pretty high level. I was there on every point. It just didn’t go my way in the end, but overall I should take more positives out of today.”

Maria Sharapova, the defending champion, held off a spirited comeback by France’s Caroline Garcia to win 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 and earn a meeting with Caroline Wozniacki, who beat Agnieszka Radwanska 6-3, 6-2. Petra Kvitova needed just over an hour to beat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-1, 6-4.

Rafael Nadal, who is struggling to find his best form with the French Open less than three weeks away, needed just 74 minutes to beat Steve Johnson 6-4, 6-3. The Spaniard, who dropped only 10 points on his serve and did not face a break point, now plays Italy’s Simone Bolelli.

Roger Federer’s preparations for Roland Garros suffered a setback when he was beaten 6-7, 7-6, 7-6 by Australia’s Nick Kyrgios. Three days after winning the title in Istanbul, Federer lost in just over two and a half hours. Kyrgios, who beat Nadal at Wimbledon last summer, won on his sixth match point, taking the final tie-break 14-12.